Bracket mounting structure of propeller shaft

ABSTRACT

In a bracket mounting structure is disclosed for mounting a bracket holding a center bearing of a propeller shaft to a vehicle body member by bolts and nuts. The structure contains a bush collar formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a flange in an upper end, fitted to the bolts and fixed to the vehicle body member by the bolts and the nuts. It also contains a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar and gripping the bracket there-between, and a washer provided in a lower end of the lower rubber bush among the rubber bushes. Outward protruding projections are provided in an outer peripheral edge of a lower end in the bush collar, and notches through which the projections can pass. Engagement portions with which the projections are engaged due to a relative rotation are provided in an inner periphery of the washer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bracket mounting structure or elastically supporting a center bearing provided in a middle portion of a propeller shaft in a motor vehicle to a vehicle body member.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional bracket mounting structure includes, for example, structures disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 7-39697 and Japanese Utility Model No. 2589855. Next, a description will be given of a basic structure of the conventional bracket mounting structure mentioned above with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 4 is a partly cut-out front elevational view showing one example of a conventional bracket mounting structure which includes a propeller shaft and a center bearing.

A propeller shaft passing under a lower surface of a floor in a motor vehicle is structured such that a middle portion thereof is supported in a rotating manner to a vehicle body member, for example, a cross member via a center bearing and a bracket. As shown in FIG. 4, a center bearing 05 is held within a circular arc portion 01A of a bracket 01 via an outer ring 02, an annular vibration proof rubber 03 and an inner ring 04. A middle portion of a propeller shaft 06 is supported in a rotating manner, by the center bearing 05. Further, the bracket 01 is structured such that plate portions 01B extending rightward and leftward from the circular arc portion 01A are respectively mounted to a cross member 010 of a vehicle body by bolts 07, nuts 08 and washers 09.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the mounting portion of the bracket 01, showing a state of mounting only the mounting portion to the bracket 01 supporting the center bearing 05 while omitting the bolts 07, the nuts 08, the washers 09, and the cross member 010 shown in FIG.4. A description will be given of the mounting structure of the bracket 01 with reference to both of FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, a cylindrical bush collar 012 having a flange at an upper end is fitted to the bolt 07 mentioned above. The bush collar 012 is fixed to the cross member 010 of the vehicle body by the bolt 07 and the nut 08. A pair of upper and lower rubber bushes 013 and 014 are fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar 012 so as to grip the bracket 01 there-between, for the purpose of preventing a vibration of the propeller shaft 06 from being transmitted to the cross member 010. Washers 015 and 016 are respectively arranged in an upper end of the upper rubber bush 013 and a lower end of the lower rubber bush 014. A rubber like material is also partly baked on an upper surface of washer 015 and a lower surface of washer 016. Washers 015 and 016 are surrounded by the rubber bushes 013 and 014. Then, as mentioned above, the whole assembly is mounted to the cross member 010 by the bolt 07.

In this case, at a time of mounting the center bearing 05 to the vehicle body member such as the cross member 010 or the like, at a first stage, the bush collar 012, the rubber bushes 013 and 014, and the washers 015 and 016 are at first assembled in the bracket 01 in which the center bearing 05 is assembled, in an arrangement essentially shown in FIG. 5. At a second stage, they are mounted to the cross member 010 or the like by the bolts 07, the nuts 08 and the washers 09. However, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, since the rubber bushes 013 and 014 are fixed to the bush collar 012 only with a fastening dimension of the rubber (that is, only an elastic force of the rubber), there is a risk that the bush collar 012 may drop out from the bracket 01 if the rubber bush 014 drops out from the bush collar 012 due to a light impact or the like during assembling and conveying.

Accordingly, on the assembly line, there is the necessity of carefully assembling while avoiding impact. Further, there is a fear of a shortage of parts. Also, a step to conform that all parts are present must be performed. Although it would be possible to fix the element together by an adhesive agent, in this case, since a degreasing step would be required before applying the adhesive agent, and the reliability of such an adhesive itself is not high, additional countermeasure would be required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to improve a bracket mounting structure for elastically supporting a center bearing provided in a middle portion of a propeller shaft in a motor vehicle to a vehicle body member.

According to the present invention, there is disclosed a bracket mounting structure for mounting a bracket holding a center bearing of a propeller shaft to a vehicle body member by bolts and nuts. The structure contains a bush collar formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a flange in an upper end, fitted to the bolts and fixed to the vehicle body member by the bolts and the nuts. It also contains a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar and gripping the bracket therebetween, and a washer provided in a lower end of the lower rubber bush among the rubber bushes.

Outward protruding projections are provided in an outer peripheral edge of a lower end in the bush collar, and notches through which the projections can pass. Engagement portions with which the projections are engaged due to a relative rotation are provided in an inner periphery of the washer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings which should not be taken to be a limitation on the invention, but are for explanation and understandingly. The drawings

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a vertical cross sectional view and a horizontal cross sectional view showing an example according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are vertical cross sectional view and a bottom elevational view showing a bush collar in FIGS. 1A and 1B in a state of being taken out respectively;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a shape of a lower washer of FIGS. 1a and 1B;

FIG. 4 is a partly cut-out front elevational view showing an example of a conventional bracket mounting structure; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross sectional view showing a main portion in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A is a vertical cross sectional view showing an example according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a horizontal cross sectional view along a line B—B in FIG. 1A. In these drawings, for convenience of understanding, a vehicle body member, mounting bolts and the like are not illustrated, and there is shown a portion of the device in which only a mounting element is mounted to a bracket, that is, a state corresponding to FIG. 5. Further, FIG. 2A is a vertical cross sectional view (cross sectional view along a line A—A in FIG. 2B) showing a bush collar 2 in FIGS. 1A in a state of being removed, and FIG. 2B is a bottom elevational view of the same. Further, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a shape of a lower washer 6 in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, according to the present example, in the same manner as the conventional one, a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes 3 and 4 are fitted to an outer periphery of a cylindrical bush collar 2 having a flange at an upper end so as to grip a bracket 1 there-between. Washers 5 and 6 are respectively arranged in an upper end of the upper rubber bush 3 among the rubber bushes and a lower end of the lower rubber bush 4 by being integrally fixed by baking or similar means. An upper surface of the washer 5 and a lower surface of the washer 6 are also surrounded by a rubber-like material, whereby the washers 5 and 6 are surrounded by the rubber bushes 3 and 4. Then, the whole of them is mounted to a vehicle body member (not shown) by bolts (not shown).

According to the present example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, protruding outward projections 7 are provided at a plurality of locations (four locations in an illustrated example) of an outer periphery in a lower end of the bush collar 2. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of (four in the same manner as mentioned above) notches 8 through which a plurality of projections 7 can pass are provided in an inner periphery of the lower washer 6.

Accordingly, at a time of assembling the lower rubber bush 4 in the bracket 1, engagement portions 9 of the washer 6 are engaged with the projections 7 of the bush collar 2 in an axial direction by aligning the notches 8 of the washer 6 with the projections 7 of the bush collar 2, inserting the rubber bush 4 to the bush collar 2 from a lower side and rotating around an axis, whereby the engagement portions 9 catch on the projections 7 so as to prevent them from falling down (refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B). It is possible to securely prevent the rubber bush 4 and the washer 6 from dropping out due to an impact or the like during assembling, conveying and transferring. Accordingly, it is possible to design an assembly line without being limited by the conveying and transferring operation. Freedom of designing the line is increased. Further, it is unnecessary to execute a shortage confirmation step before assembling. It is possible to improve the assembly procedure.

According to the present invention, there is provided a bracket mounting structure for mounting a bracket holding a center bearing of a propeller shaft to a vehicle body member by bolts and nuts. The structure contains a bush collar formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a flange in an upper end, fitted to the bolts and fixed to the vehicle body member by the bolts and the nuts. It also contains a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar and gripping the bracket there-between, and a washer provided in a lower end of the lower rubber bush among the rubber bushes. Outward protruding projections are provided in an outer peripheral edge of a lower end in the bush collar, and notches through which the projections can pass. Engagement portions with which the projections are engaged due to a relative rotation are provided in an inner periphery of the washer.

The present invention is structured in the manner mentioned above. The outward protruding projections are provided in the outer peripheral edge of the lower end in the bush collar. A plurality of notches through which the projections can pass, and the engagement portions with which the projections mentioned above are engaged due to the relative rotation are provided in the inner periphery of the washer. Therefore, the engagement portions of the washer are engaged with the projections of the bush collar in the axial direction by aligning the notches of the washer with the projections of the bush collar, inserting the rubber bush to the bush collar from the lower side and rotating around the axis, whereby the engagement portions catch on the projections so as to prevent from falling down. Accordingly, it is possible to securely prevent the rubber bush and the washer from dropping out during assembly, conveying and transferring. Assembling operability is thereby improved. Accordingly, it is possible to make it easy to convey on the line, and a freedom of designing the assembling line is increased.

As heretofore explained, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configurations of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments but those having a modification of the design within the range of the present invention are also included in the present invention.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to several exemplary embodiments thereof it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Therefore, the present invention should not be understood as limited to the specific embodiment set out above, but should be understood to include all possible embodiments which can be embodied within a scope encompassed and equivalents thereof with respect to the features set out in the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bracket mounting structure for mounting a bracket holding a center bearing of a propeller shaft to a vehicle body member by bolts and nuts, comprising: a bush collar formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a flange in an upper end, fitted to the bolts and fixed to the vehicle body member by the bolts and the nuts; a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar and gripping the bracket there-between; and a washer provided in a lower end of the lower rubber bush among the rubber bushes, wherein outward protruding projections are provided in an outer peripheral edge of a lower end in the bush collar, and notches through which the projections can pass, and engagement portions with which the projections are engaged due to a relative rotation are provided in an inner periphery of the washer.
 2. A bracket mounting structure of a propeller shaft as claimed in claim 1, wherein two or more projections are provided at regular intervals in the outer peripheral edge of the lower end in the bush collar, and the notches through which the projections can pass, are provided in the same numbers as the projections on the inner periphery of the washer, and the other portions except the notches on the inner periphery of the washer, become the engagement portions which engage with the projections. 